Category Archives: risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis

“I have been in search of a very important question, can you die from RA? It is listed on a death certificate of a person I know that did not have an autopsy and there were no doctors present when this person died. The person had RA but I am not convinced that this is true and heard you can NOT die from RA alone. I would appreciate any information you could offer.”

Actually, this is a very interesting question because it brings up an important issue.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, affecting more than 2 million Americans. It is a systemic autoimmune disease that can affect virtually any organ system.

What is not appreciated by many people, including physicians, is that RA has been associated with a significant mortality risk.

It has been estimated from a number of studies that uncontrolled or poorly controlled RA can shorten life span by ten to fifteen years. Despite the many treatment advances made in recent years, early mortality from rheumatoid arthritis remains a significant concern.

So why is that?

The answer lies in the chronic inflammation caused by the RA. The inflammation sets up an autoimmune situation that is perpetually turned on. Essentially there is no “off-switch.”

Elegant studies done by Dr. Gerald Weissman and colleagues at the New York University School of Medicine implicate chronic gingival inflammation as the underlying trigger.

In any event, this chronic inflammation leads to early atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Heart attacks and strokes are the end result. While this affects all patients, the effect seems to be most pronounced in women.

Some investigations have provided evidence that aggressive intervention with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS) and biologic agents may reverse the tendency to early heart attack and stroke.

Another cause of early death can be lung involvement leading to fibrosis and destruction of lung tissue.

Early crippling and disability is rarely seen nowadays. However, in the past, this too was a significant cause of early death.

Rheumatoid vasculitis is a devastating complication of RA. This problem occurs as a result of inflammation of blood vessel walls. The inflammation causes closure of blood vessels to major organs and that obviously can cause major problems. Immunosuppressive therapy has had mixed results as far as resolution of the problem. Occasionally, high dose steroids and biologics have been used with some modicum of success.

This discussion would not be complete without a mention of early death related to treatment. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) used to treat pain and inflammation can cause stomach ulcers, gastrointestinal bleeding, as well as liver and kidney damage.

Disease-modifying drugs such as methotrexate used to slow disease progression may also present problems. And biologic therapies, even though they have revolutionized our approach to RA, because of their profound effects on the immune system, can also cause complications leading to death.

Nonetheless, when RA is treated appropriately, the benefits of therapy, I think, outweigh the negatives.

For more information on arthritis treatments and other arthritis problems go to:

Going off medicines. Sometimes patients need to hold their medicines if they’re sick or they’re having a surgical procedure. It’s not uncommon for them to flare.

Stress. Emotional or physical stress can cause flares.

Tapering of therapy. Sometimes patients will have their medicines tapered either because they want to or because the doctor wants to. An example might be tapering of prednisone. That can cause a flare.

Weather changes. This is controversial since studies have been conflicting. All I can say is my patients tell me they feel worse with cold damp weather.

While not a flare inducer, smoking is a risk factor for RA and smokers seem to do worse.

Illness. Sometimes colds might be associated with flares but not as often as one might think.

Changing therapies. Sometimes when a treatment is undergoing transition, ie going from one biologic to another, the patient might flare. Haven’t seen this often but it has occurred.

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